Spring Break
Eastern grad, 'American Idol' contestant to entertain Family Weekend
Marco Santana / Verge Editor
Issue date: 9/26/08 Section: The Verge
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She had just finished her turn in the third round and Simon Cowell was ready to give his critique.
Cowell, who is notorious for speaking his mind on the show and not holding back, didn't have much negative to say.
All he told her was "you have a nice voice but you're not what we're looking for."
Not exactly the most encouraging thing.
But Lawson took the experience as a learning one.
"It forced me to try things that I have never tried before," she said. "Sing in front of cameras and people I didn't know. I realized after that that I could do that."
Lawson will perform with her band, the Hillbilly Rock Stars, at 8 p.m. today at the University Union Bowling Lanes in the basement of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union as part of Family Weekend.
Her moment on American Idol was during the second season of the show.
After that, Lawson, 26, decided to begin a singing career and has since traveled and performed throughout the United States.
Her upbringing, which included watching MTV with her brother and listening to Patty Loveless and Clint Black with her parents, helped her develop her musical tastes.
"I really had a real wide variety of music around me all the time," said Lawson, who also sang in the church.
Lawson traveled to Argentina as a 17-year-old exchange student.
While down there, she was asked to sing a song from the United States. When she did, the people from Argentina were blown away.
For the rest of her time there, people kept asking her to sing.
"It reminds me that music can transcend all language," she said.
In August 2005, the band Black N Blue - which today is sometimes knows as the Hillbilly Rock Stars - contacted Lawson seeking a female lead singer.
Lawson, who is from Charleston and graduated from Eastern, said traveling with the band brings them closer together.
"It's like siblings," she said. "We hear everybody's personal problems. We've been around each other when we're moody, when we're excited, when we're sick."
This camaraderie makes for a better show on stage as they work off of each other and "read each other's minds," Lawson said.
There are many reasons Lawson pursued her music career.
Her love for the art stands as one of the main ones.
"A good song can really cheer somebody up and a good song can really help you think about your own life and the path you're taking," she said. "Music can affect all that and that, to me, is fascinating."
Check it out
What: Jackie Lawson and the Hillbilly Rock Stars
Where: University Union
Bowling Lanes
When: 8 tonight
Check them out online:
jackielawsonmusic.com
myspace.com/jackielawson
myspace.com/bnbrock
CDs also available online
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